Methods and systems for managing aquifer operation

Abstract

Systems and methods for managing aquifer operation are included. An exemplary method includes receiving at an analysis computing device, one or more water measurements from a plurality of sites in an aquifer, wherein water measurements are received at a plurality of time points. A site may include one or more groundwater extraction wells. The method may further include calculating well operational data for at least one groundwater extraction well based on the water measurements, wherein the well operational data includes a well efficiency over a time period. Further, the method may include receiving an aquifer objective input via a graphical user interface presented on the analysis computing device. The method may further include generating a pump operation signal based on the well operational data and the aquifer objective input.

1. A method for managing aquifer operation, the method comprising:
 receiving at an analysis computing device, one or more water measurements from a plurality of sites in an aquifer, wherein water measurements are received at a plurality of time points, and wherein a site includes one or more groundwater extraction wells; 
 calculating well operational data for at least one groundwater extraction well based on the water measurements, wherein the well operational data includes well efficiency over a time period, wherein calculating the well operational data includes executing a well hydraulic interference evaluation of two or more groundwater extraction wells based on geographic reference coordinates, the executing including calculating a well interference based on a number of operator inputs received from a graphical user interface and based on the plurality of water measurements received from the two or more groundwater extraction wells; 
 receiving an aquifer objective input via the graphical user interface presented on the analysis computing device; 
 generating a pump operation signal based on the well operational data and the aquifer objective input. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising adjusting operation of at least one groundwater extraction well based on the pump operation signal. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein adjusting operation of at least one groundwater extraction well includes adjusting a pump rate of the at least one groundwater extraction well when the well efficiency of the at least one groundwater extraction well is below a predetermined low threshold. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending the pump operation signal to the graphical user interface for display, wherein the pump operation signal includes a pump operation advisory message to inform an operator of a recommended pump procedure. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the aquifer objective input includes receiving the aquifer objective input from the graphical user interface associated with the analysis computing device, and wherein the aquifer objective input is one or more of: an optimal energy consumption, an optimal groundwater elevation for one or more sites, an optimal pressure reading for one or more sites, an optimal water pumping volume, a site contamination avoidance for a selected site, and a groundwater contamination removal for the aquifer. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of time points is one or more of: a plurality of time points collected according to a predetermined schedule to continuously monitor the water measurements, and a plurality of time points collected in response to a change in one or more water measurements exceeding an associated threshold. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein calculating the well operational data further includes calculating one or more of: an aquifer-water pressure loss, a well-water pressure loss, a specific capacity, and an entrance velocity. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis computing device includes a remote access terminal configured to display the graphical user interface to a user over a computer network. 
     
     
       9. A system for managing aquifer operation, the system comprising:
 an analysis computing device configured to receive aquifer data including one or more water measurements from a plurality of sites over a time interval and perform analyses on the aquifer data, wherein a site includes one or more groundwater extraction wells, wherein the analyses on the aquifer data include calculating a well efficiency of one or more groundwater extraction wells over a time interval at the analysis computing device, and wherein a well efficiency calculation includes calculating an intermediate well efficiency, executing an interference evaluation of at least two groundwater extraction wells, and modifying the intermediate well efficiency based on the interference evaluation from the at least one additional groundwater extraction well; and 
 a graphical user interface presented on a display associated with the analysis computing device, the graphical user interface including:
 a well hydraulics module configured to graphically present hydraulics data, and 
 a hydrogeology module configured to graphically present hydrogeological data, 
 wherein the graphical user interface is configured to receive operator input, send the operator input to an analysis program of the analysis computing device, display aquifer data received from the analysis computing device, display analyzed aquifer data received from the analysis computing device, and display a pump operation signal including a pump operation advisory message received from the analysis computing device. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the well hydraulics module includes an efficiency module configured to receive efficiency operator input including one or more selected groundwater extraction wells and a time interval, send a well operational data request to the analysis computing device, receive well operational data from the analysis computing device, and display the well operational data, wherein the well operational data includes aquifer-water pressure loss, well-water pressure loss, and well efficiency for the one or more selected groundwater extraction wells. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the well hydraulics module includes a specific capacity module configured to receive specific capacity operator input including one or more selected groundwater extraction wells, a static water level, an interference water level, and a pumping water level, send the specific capacity operator input to the analysis computing device, receive a calculated specific capacity for the one or more selected groundwater extraction wells from the analysis computing device, and display the calculated specific capacity for the one or more selected groundwater extraction wells. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the well hydraulics module includes an entrance velocity module configured to receive entrance velocity operator input including one or more selected groundwater extraction wells and selected groundwater extraction well parameters, send an entrance velocity request to the analysis computing device, receive an entrance velocity for the one or more selected groundwater extraction wells from the analysis computing device, and display the entrance velocity for the one or more selected groundwater extraction wells. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the hydrogeology module includes one or more geostatistical modeling modules configured to display aquifer-water pressure data including elevation units, and apply one or more geostatistical models to the aquifer-water pressure data. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the geostatistical modeling module is a potentiometric surface module configured to receive potentiometric surface operator input including a plurality of sites, a time interval, and a desired geostatistical interpolation method, wherein the desired geostatistical interpolation method is one of a linear-log kriging method, an inverse-distance weighted method, a spline method, a universal kriging method, and an ordinary kriging method, send the potentiometric surface operator input to the analysis computing device, receive a potentiometric surface model from the analysis computing device based on the potentiometric surface operator input, and display the potentiometric surface model in a geographic rendering system. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the geostatistical modeling module is a water-flow modeling module configured to:
 receive water-flow modeling operator input including one or more of a selected groundwater extraction well, a location of water-flow traces, a number of water-flow traces, and a starting point for each water-flow trace from the graphical user interface, 
 receive an aquifer transmissivity input from one or more of the graphical user interface and the analysis computing device, 
 send the water-flow modeling operator input and the aquifer transmissivity input to the analysis computing device, 
 receive a groundwater-extraction-well capture-zone analysis including modeled water-flow traces for the one or more selected groundwater extraction wells from the analysis computing device based on the water-flow modeling operator input and the water transmissivity input, 
 display the modeled water-flow traces, wherein the modeled water-flow traces are computed based on an interpolated pressure field, the water-flow modeling operator input, and the water transmissivity input. 
 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the geostatistical modeling module is an interference evaluation module configured to receive interference operator input including at least two groundwater extraction wells, send the interference operator input to the analysis computing device, receive an interference evaluation from the analysis computing device based on the interference operator input, and graphically display the interference evaluation. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a remote access terminal connected to the analysis computing device, wherein the remote access terminal is configured to receive preprocessed aquifer data and analyzed aquifer data from the analysis computing device, and wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to display preprocessed aquifer data via the remote access terminal, display analyzed aquifer data via the remote access terminal, and display a pump operation advisory message via the remote access terminal. 
     
     
       18. A method for managing aquifer operation, the method comprising:
 receiving at an analysis computing device, one or more water measurements from a plurality of groundwater extraction wells in an aquifer, wherein water measurements are received at a plurality of time points; 
 calculating a well efficiency for each of the plurality of groundwater extraction wells based on the water measurements, wherein the calculating includes:
 executing an interference evaluation of at least two groundwater extraction wells, and 
 calculating the well efficiency for each groundwater extraction well based on the interference evaluation and a number of efficiency operator inputs received at a graphical user interface associated with the analysis computing device; 
 
 receiving an aquifer objective input from the graphical user interface; 
 generating a pump operation signal including a pump operation advisory message based on the well operational data and the aquifer objective input; 
 sending the pump operation advisory message to the graphical user interface; and 
 adjusting operation of at least one groundwater extraction well based on the pump operation signal.